On the Writer's Road: "Where Do You Get Your Ideas?"

For the past month I’ve been introducing GLIAS readers to some of the unique experiences their favorite authors go through when writing and promoting a book. On the Writer’s Road is sometimes a fun place to be and other times a really frustrating place to be, but it’s definitely always interesting. Especially when readers ask questions! One of the most often-asked questions is “Where do you get the ideas for your books?”

Writers always have vague, rote answers but I got to thinking about specifically where story ideas come from and although there are truly limitless answers, I came up with five of the most common ways stories are born.

Traveling

Every time I go anywhere, be it to the store or across an ocean, I can find the seeds of a story. Sometimes an interaction at Target can spawn a conversation in a book. My husband and I still tent camp and I have used the sights, smells, and experiences of being in the woods in several of my books. The most current example of turning travel into story is my hiking trip to Scotland a year ago. Because of that trip I am writing a completely new contemporary Scottish series.  

Above and below: The bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

The Highlands

Pictures of Celebrities

How many people don’t fantasize about singers, movie stars, athletes, and other well-known figures? Not many! The difference a writer brings to her fantasies is that we write them down! I’ve had so many celebs “star” in my books that sometimes I’m embarrassed to say who they are. But not most of the time. Here are a few of my favorite stars turned book heroes!!

Brainstorming

Working with other writers is a gift all authors love to get—and give. Sometimes just talking about the thread of an idea can spur a group of writers to weave entire stories by bouncing ideas off one another. Same for solving a sticky situation in a book that’s underway. One of my favorite moments of brainstorming came when working on

Personal Experience

“Write what you know,” is advice authors are given all the time. We don’t always take it, because it’s super fun to research someplace you’ve never been and then write about it. Still, drawing on things we know is very often the best way to create characters, to describe settings, and to really be able to make a story authentic. My first series “Love From Kennison Falls,” is set in southern Minnesota. I know exactly what the scenery looks like, I know what farms in the area look like, I can describe any kind of weather. Why? Because I live there! For the same reason I always have horses or equines of some kind in my books because I’ve had horses most of my life. When we’re an “expert” in something—we definitely use it.

Pure Imagination

Finally, sometimes we purely and simply make stuff up! A prince comes to town, a plague hits the world, we live a hundred years in the future—on a different planet. We can ask ourselves “what if?” and write a whole story based on that. “What if a mutant animal showed up on your deck one afternoon?” “What if you were running head down through a drenching rain and ran smack dab into another person—and he was famous? Or a wanted man? Or a misunderstood teen?” The possibilities are endless.

So—you put all these possible inspirations together and that’s how you come up with a book. A lot of people say they want to write a novel. Most people say they wouldn’t know how to begin. An author is just a person who didn’t stop her imagination once it started going, picked up a pencil and paper, and wrote down the fantasy. It’s a magical thing.

But do you know what an author’s best inspiration of all is? A reader who discovers her books. When we’ve worked hard on a novel and then dare to put it out into the world— it’s like sending a child off to school—the true magic happens when it gets opened. And if the opener is someone who ends up loving the story—that’s the very best way to get a writer to create one more book!

Have you read books that inspired you? How about stories that transport you to a place you never want to leave? I’d love to hear what wonderful things you’ve found in your reading pile!